It is often said that man has become the enemy of our planet. This is no exaggeration(夸张), for reports show that man’s greed has done much to destroy the earth. Man, in his greedy desire for financial growth, has polluted the air, land and water, and has robbed our valuable natural resources. Man’s industrial plants pour out poisonous waste that pollutes the sea and puts life in the sea under the threat of dying out; at the same time, they release alarming amounts of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other pollutants. Small wonder that the air now is much warmer and more impure than ever before.
Of course, this is not just because of man’s greed—it is man’s pressing need as well. For instance, in developing countries, huge financial foreign debts have forced governments to approve the cutting of forests for agriculture or ranching. As a result, forests are cut down just to meet man’s immediate needs.
Perhaps unknowingly，man has changed the make-up of the earth's atmosphere. Scientific studies have shown that CFCs used in refrigerators and industrial cleaners are fast destroying the ozone layer—a protective layer in the atmosphere that protects us against the harmful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet (紫外线)rays. In fact, documented reports have shown a terrible fact that there are “holes” in the ozone layer over the Antarctic. And they appear to be expanding.
Faced with these environmental problems, world leaders have shown deep concern. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has arranged international agreements like the Vienna convention of 1985 and the Montreal Protocol of 1989 to preserve the ozone layer by controlling the production, use and trade of destructive chemicals.
There may be some doubt as to how effectual these agreements may be, given that some countries still maintain an “I-don’t-care” attitude. Their attitude is probably due to their failure to grasp the importance of the problem. Then, there is no doubt that environmental education on an international scale（规模）is greatly needed, so that all countries, great and small—the “haves” and the “have nots”—may realize their responsibilities for our planet.
In the meantime, the UNEP seems to have taken steps in the right direction, and it is hoped that in the not so distant future, all nations of the world will join hands in saving mother earth. Which of the following is a reason for the cutting and burning of forests?
| A．To build houses for more population. |
| B．To have land for agriculture. |
| C．To export trees to other countries. |
| D．To build industrial plants. |
The holes in the ozone layer are largely due to________.
| A．man’s research activities | B．the greenhouse effect |
| C．the ultraviolent | D．harmful chemicals |
Why don’t some countries care about the problem of the environment?
| A．They don’t want to put their lives in danger. |
| B．They just don’t know how to solve the problem. |
| C．They haven’t realized the seriousness of the problem. |
| D．They don’t want to break their international commitment. |
What is the author’s attitude towards the future of the environment?
| A．Hopeful. | B．Unconcerned | C．Doubtful | D．Objective |
Researchers claimed that waitresses who wear red get up to 26 percent extra in tips than they would wearing other colors. However, the team finds that the sexes tip very differently—with the bigger tips coming only from male customers.
No matter what color they wear, female diners will give the same kind of amounts for service every time. Yet men, whether they realize it or not, add anything between 15 and 26 percent more to a waitress in red than they would if it was the same waitress wearing a different color.
The test was simple. Take 11 waitresses in five restaurants over a six-week period and ask them to wear the same kind of T-shirt every day but change the colors. Previous research has suggested waitresses could earn more if they acted charmingly or wore more make-up than their colleagues. But this study, by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, only changed the color of the T-shirt. Every other aspect from make-up to behavior remained the same.
When wearing either black, white, green, blue or yellow T-shirts, the size of the tips from both male and female customers was almost identical. But when they wore red, the size of the tips went up by between 15 and 26 percent from male customers, yet stayed the same from female ones.
A total of 272 restaurant customers were studied by researchers Nicolas Gueguen and Celine Jacob for the international journal of the tourism industry.
Even as a T-shirt, it shows just how much the color red is thought, by men, to increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of woman, said the researchers.
The researchers wrote: As red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear clothes at work.The underlined word “identical” in Para. 4 probably means____________________.
| A．different | B．similar | C．the same | D．close |
According to the passage, in the research by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research waitresses could earn more by _________________.
| A．wearing red T-shirts | B．putting on attractive make-up |
| C．changing the color of T-shirts | D．behaving themselves |
Which of the following is right according to the passage?
| A．Bright color can increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of women. |
| B．Waitresses in red make no difference to female customers. |
| C．Make-up makes no difference to man customers. |
| D．Whether male customers tips more or not depends on service. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．People tip differently if waitresses wear different make-up. |
| B．Waitresses who wear red get more tips than they would wearing other colors. |
| C．Male customers are more interested in the red color. |
| D．Red color has no negative effect on female customers. |
Like many languages spoken by people, Ayapaneco is dying. Only two people in the world still speak it, and they won't talk to each other.
Spoken in Mexico for centuries, Ayapaneco is one of 68 surviving languages in the mainly Spanish-speaking nation. The two speakers are Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez. Though they live only 500 meters from each other in the village, the two men seldom talk to each other. Daniel, an American expert, who is working to make a dictionary of Ayapaneco, says the two men “don’t have a lot in common,” and that Segovia can be “active” while Velasquez tends to mind his own business and stay at home.
While Segovia still speaks to his wife and son in Ayapaneco, neither of them can manage more than a few words. Velasquez hardly speaks his native tongue any more. Daniel is working to preserve the language in dictionary form before its last surviving speakers pass away. According to Daniel, Ayapaneco and the other languages began dying out with the introduction of public Spanish education in the mid-20th century. For decades, local children weren’t allowed to speak anything else. Many people to cities, starting in the 1970s, also helped the dying out of native languages.
Ayapaneco is the name given to the language; Segovia and Velazquez call it “Nuumte Oote”, which means “true voice”. Neither man, however, speaks the same language. The dictionary will contain two versions(版本) of the language when it comes out later this year. Those behind the dictionary aren’t the only ones trying to save Ayapaneco. The National Language Institute plans to hold classes so that Segovia and Velasquez can pass on what they know to children.
It is thought that there are about 6,000 languages spoken on earth and that about half will disappear over the next 100 years. Let’s hope the “true voice” isn’t one of them.Segovia and Velasquez seldom talk to each other in Ayapaneco because they___________________.
| A．both dislike the language |
| B．don’t get along well with each other |
| C．are too busy to talk to each other |
| D．don’t share the same interests |
Which are the main reasons why the language Ayapaneco started dying out?
a. No teacher liked to teach it. b. Local children had to speak Spanish.
c. many villagers went to live in cities. d. The surviving speakers didn’t like to use it.
| A．a, b | B．a, c | C．b, d | D．b, c |
How does the National Language Institute try to save Ayapaneco?
| A．Write a dictionary of Ayapaneco. |
| B．Let Ayapaneco be taught at school. |
| C．Introduce a public Ayapaneco education. |
| D．Ask villagers to speak Ayapaneco. |
From the text we learn that the author____________________.
| A．agrees that it is natural that Ayapaneco should die out |
| B．thinks Daniel’s effort to preserve Ayapaneco won’t work |
| C．thinks highly of Ayapaneco and wants people to learn it |
| D．hopes that Ayapaneco will not die out in the future |
One day, a poor boy who was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods from door to door found that he had only one dime left. He was hungry so he decided to beg for a meal at the next house.
However, he became nervous when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied, “Mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Haward Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but it also increased his faith in God and the human race. He was about to give up and quit before this point.
Years later, the young woman became seriously ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where specialists could be called in to study her rare disease. Dr. Haward Kelly, now famous was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room.
Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room and determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to her case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the bill to him for approval. He looked at it and then wrote something on the side. The bill was sent to her room. She was afraid to open it because she was positive that it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked, and the note on the side of the bill caught her attention. She read these words,
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
(Signed) Dr. Haward Kelly
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as she prayed silently, “Thank You, God. Your love has spread through human hearts and hands.”After finishing the milk, the boy ______________.
| A．felt angry because what he was really hungry |
| B．regretted that he didn’t ask for any food |
| C．felt more hungry than ever before |
| D．had a stronger faith in God and the human race |
The underlined word “baffled” in Para. 4 probably means_______.
| A．puzzled | B．excited | C．amazed | D．encouraged |
What did the local doctors finally do when the young woman became seriously ill?
| A．They looked on indifferently. |
| B．They asked for Dr. Howard Kelly’s help. |
| C．They sent her to a hospital with specialists. |
| D．They believed that his faith in God would cure her. |
Which of the following statement is RIGHT according to the passage?
| A．The young woman knew that Dr. Howard Kelly would help her and save her life. |
| B．The doctor walked away the moment he heard the name of the town she came from. |
| C．The doctor saved the woman’s life and paid off the bill. |
| D．We shouldn’t ask for help because one day we will pay a lot for it. |
In the eighteenth century one of the first modern economists, Adam Smith, thought that “ the whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country” provided revenue to “three different orders of people: those who live by rent, those who live by wages, and those who live by profit”. Each successive stage of the industrial revolution, however, made the social structure more complicated.
Many intermediate groups grew up during the nineteenth century between the upper middle class and the working class. There were small-scale industrialists as well as large ones, small shopkeepers and tradesmen, officials and salaried employees, skilled and unskilled workers, and professional men such as doctors and teachers. Farmers and peasants continued in all countries as independent groups.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the possession of wealth inevitably affected a person’s social position. Intelligent industrialists with initiative made fortunes by their wits which lifted them into an economic group far higher than that of their working-class parents. But they lacked social training of the upper class, who despised them as the “new rich.”
They often sent their sons and daughters to special schools to acquire social training. Here their children, mixed with the children of the upper classes, were accepted by them, and very often found marriage partners from among them. In the same way, a thrifty, hardworking labourer, though not clever himself, might save for his son enough to pay for an extended secondary school education in the hope that he would move in a “white-collar” occupation, carrying with it a higher salary and a move up in the social scale.
In the twentieth century the increased taxation of higher incomes, the growth of the social services, and the wider development of educational opportunity have considerably altered the social outlook. The upper classes no longer are the sole, or even the main possessors of wealth, power and education, though inherited social position still carries considerable prestige.What criterion did Adam Smith seem to go by in his classification of social groups?
| A．The amount of wealth | B．The amount of money |
| C．The social status | D．The way of getting money |
If you compare the first and second paragraph, what groups of people did Adam Smith leave out in his classification?
| A．Officials and employees. | B．Peasants and farmers. |
| C．Doctors and teachers. | D．Tradesmen and landlords. |
Who were the ‘new rich’ during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
| A．They were still the upper class people. |
| B．They were owners of large factories. |
| C．They were intelligent industrialists. |
| D．They were skilled workers who made their fortune. |
According to the passage, what did those people do who intended to make their children move up in the social ladder?
| A．They saved a lot of money for their children to receive higher education. |
| B．They tried to find marriage partners from the children of the upper class. |
| C．They made greater fortunes by their wits. |
| D．They worked even harder to acquire social training. |
In the twentieth century class differences have been partly smoothed out by ____.
| A．increased income and decreased taxation |
| B．taxation, social services and educational opportunities |
| C．education, the increase of income and industrial development |
| D．the decrease of the upper class population |
A year ago August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan. His wife, Gerrie, was still working in the local school cafeteria, but work for Dave wasscarce, and the price of everything was rising. The Fusses were at risk of joining the millions of Americans who have lost their homes in recent years. Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely gift--＄7,000, a legacy (遗产) from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch who died in an accident. “It really made a difference when we were going under financially,” says Dave.
But the Fusses weren’t the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to receive unexpected legacy from the Hatches. Dozens of other families were touched by the Hatches’ generosity. In some cases, it was a few thousand dollars; in others, it was more than ＄100,000.
It surprised nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than ＄3 million--they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm.
Children of the Great Depression, Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of saving. They liked comparison shopping and would routinely go from store to store, checking prices before making a new purchase.
Through the years, the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camp when their parents couldn’t afford it. “Ish and Arlene never asked if you needed anything.” says their friend Sandy Van Weelden. “They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them.”
Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches had their farmland distributed. It was the Hatches’ wish that their legacy, a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents, should enrich the whole community and last for generations to come.
Neighbors helping neighbors -- that was Ish and Arlene Hatch’s story.According to the text, the Fusses_________.
| A．were employed by a truck company |
| B．were in financial difficulty |
| C．worked in a school cafeteria |
| D．lost their home |
Which of the following is true of the Hatches?
| A．They had their children during the Great Depression. |
| B．They left the family farm to live in an old house. |
| C．They gave away their possessions to their neighbors. |
| D．They helped their neighbors to find jobs |
Why would the Hatches routinely go from store to store?
| A．They decided to open a store. |
| B．They wanted to save money. |
| C．They couldn’t afford expensive things. |
| D．They wanted to buy gifts for local kids. |
According to Sandy Van Weelden, the Hatches were ________.
| A．understanding | B．optimistic | C．childlike | D．curious |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The community of Alto was poor. |
| B．The summer camp was attractive to the parents. |
| C．Sandy Van Weelden got a legacy from the Hatches |
| D．The Hatches would like the neighbors to follow their example. |